Doucement. — Slowly

35. Le sentier frayé. — The beaten path. Frayé is, literally, rubbed, worn.

36. Paul fit asseoir Virginie, et . . . hors de lui. — Paul found a seat for Virginia, and began running hither and thither, quite beside himself. Se mettre à is to put one's self to, to set to work, to begin. Se prendre a is used in a similar Way, and may also be translated to begin. Thus we hâve on the n^xt page, et elle se prit a verser des larmes ; literally, and she betook herself to shedding tears.

37. Mais les seuls échos. — But the echoes only. For the unusual position of seul, see Grammar, p. 83, § 6.

38. A plusieurs reprises. — A gain and again, or over and over; litei'ally, at several resumptions ; that is, several times separated by distinctly marked intervais.

39. Qu'éprouvent maintenant nos mères. — Which our mothers now endure.

40. Elle se prit a. — She began. For this use of se prendre a, see note 36 of this pièce.

41. Qui vient le soir tuer des cerfs a l'affût. — Who cornes in the evening to kill deer, by lying in ambush for them. The préposition is omitted before le soir. See Grammar, p. 304, § 3.

42. Serions-nous si près d'arriver ? — Can it be possible we are so near home ? See XIX., note 20.

43. Revenir de. — Recover from, get over. In the expression, je n'en reviens pas, the en must stand for some such words as de mon étonnement, de ma surprise, de mon émotion, de mon effroi. It may sometimes be translated, is it possible ? how can that be ?

44. Domingue. — Domingo; the slave of Virginia' s mother. Domingo is a Spanish name, meaning Sunday.